Method and apparatus for associating patient identifiers utilizing principal component analysis

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to associate patent identifiers, such as by matching patient identifiers, utilizing principal component analysis. In the context of a method and for each of a plurality of patient identifiers, a set of vectors is determined that is representative of a plurality of components of a respective patient identifier. The method also performs a principal component analysis of each set of vectors, compares results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors and determines whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient based upon a comparison of the results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors.

That which is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 for each of a plurality of patient identifiers, determining a set of vectors representative of a plurality of components of a respective patient identifier;   performing a principal component analysis of each set of vectors;   comparing results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors; and   determining whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient based upon a comparison of the results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein determining a set of vectors comprises determining the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with each of a plurality of healthcare records. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein comparing the results of the principal component analysis comprises comparing the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with one healthcare record with the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 3  wherein determining whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient comprises determining whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient based upon the comparison of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with one healthcare record with the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein comparing the results of the principal component analysis comprises determining whether the results of the principal component analysis of the sets of vectors associated with two or more healthcare records differ by no more than a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 5  wherein determining whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient comprises determining that patient identifiers associated with the two or more healthcare records are associated with the same patient in an instance in which the results of the principal component analysis are determined to differ by no more than the predefined threshold. 
     
     
         7 . An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:
 for each of a plurality of patient identifiers, determine a set of vectors representative of a plurality of components of a respective patient identifier;   perform a principal component analysis of each set of vectors;   compare results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors; and   determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient based upon a comparison of the results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors.   
     
     
         8 . An apparatus according to  claim 7  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a set of vectors by determining the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with each of a plurality of healthcare records. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus according to  claim 8  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to compare the results of the principal component analysis by comparing the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with one healthcare record with the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus according to  claim 9  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient by determining whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient based upon the comparison of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with one healthcare record with the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus according to  claim 10  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to compare the results of the principal component analysis by determining whether the results of the principal component analysis of the sets of vectors associated with two or more healthcare records differ by no more than a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus according to  claim 11  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient by determining that patient identifiers associated with the two or more healthcare records are associated with the same patient in an instance in which the results of the principal component analysis are determined to differ by no more than the predefined threshold. 
     
     
         13 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising:
 for each of a plurality of patient identifiers, program code instructions configured to determine a set of vectors representative of a plurality of components of a respective patient identifier;   program code instructions configured to perform a principal component analysis of each set of vectors;   program code instructions configured to compare results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors; and   program code instructions configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient based upon a comparison of the results of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors.   
     
     
         14 . A computer program product according to  claim 13  wherein the program code instructions configured to determine a set of vectors comprise program code instructions configured to determine the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with each of a plurality of healthcare records. 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product according to  claim 14  wherein the program code instructions configured to compare the results of the principal component analysis comprise program code instructions configured to compare the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with one healthcare record with the results of the principal component analysis of the set of vectors representative of the plurality of components of each of the plurality of patient identifiers associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         16 . A computer program product according to  claim 15  wherein the program code instructions configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient comprise program code instructions configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with the same patient based upon the comparison of the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with one healthcare record with the principal component analysis of each set of vectors associated with another healthcare record. 
     
     
         17 . A computer program product according to  claim 16  wherein the program code instructions configured to compare the results of the principal component analysis comprise program code instructions configured to determine whether the results of the principal component analysis of the sets of vectors associated with two or more healthcare records differ by no more than a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         18 . A computer program product according to  claim 17  wherein the program code instructions configured to determine whether two or more of the patient identifiers are associated with a same patient comprise program code instructions configured to determine that patient identifiers associated with the two or more healthcare records are associated with the same patient in an instance in which the results of the principal component analysis are determined to differ by no more than the predefined threshold.